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EDITORIAL Editorial Directors: Dirk Schaar, Email: d.schaar@vfmz.de Winfried Bauer, Email: w.bauer@vfmz.de The golden years seem to be over for now Dear readers, For many years, Turkey was known to be one of the up-and-coming economic regions. The country on the shores of the Bosporus was undoubtedly regarded as one of the future growth markets. This positive rating was certainly substantiated by the fact that the gross domestic product of Turkey really only moved in one direction over the last few decades. However, this has all changed now. Following the crash of the Turkish lira in the summer of 2018, many experts predicted that Turkey would have a severe economic crisis – yet the national currency is gradually recovering, inflation is decreasing and the government has declared that all of its problems are over. Although skeptics in Ankara believe this to be a political flash in the pan. Many everyday consumers are having to tighten their belts. Finance minister Berat Albayrak, who is also one of the son-in-laws of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is trying to combat the rate of inflation by reducing the tax on furniture, household appliances, and new cars and is also appealing to Turkish companies to reduce their prices by ten percent. A significant increase to the interest rate by the central bank has also helped. According to Albayrak and Erdogan, the government has thus been able to combat the attacks on the Turkish economy. In Ankara, the difficulties the country is facing are not seen as a consequence of any of their own mistakes but as a conspiracy against Turkey. The USA has particularly been pinpointed as one of the offenders in recent months. However, the crisis is not going to simply disappear. Recent favorable developments of the inflation rate and exchange rate of the Turkish lira could give false hope. Right in the middle of this difficult situation, WIN Eurasia will be held in Istanbul between March 14 th and 17 th . More information about the trade fair is provided on pages 8 and 9. Traditionally, mechanical engineers, automation and intralogistics specialists from all around the world meet at WIN Eurasia to discuss new technologies, products, and systems. We can only hope that these discussions will have a positive impact on the Eurasia region. Winfried Bauer, Editorial Director World of Industries Editorial board: Peter Becker (Editor-in-chief), Email: p.becker@vfmz.de Nicole Steinicke (Editor-in-chief), Email: s.steinicke@vfmz.de Manfred Weber, Email: m.weber@vfmz.de Svenja Stenner, Email: s.stenner@vfmz.de Assistant editors: Svenja Stenner, Petra Weidt Design/Layout: Anna Schätzlein, Sonja Daniel, Anette Fröder, Mario Wüst Epaper designer: Katja Rüdell Managing editor: Winfried Bauer Publishing house: Vereinigte Fachverlage GmbH Lise-Meitner-Str. 2, 55129 Mainz, Germany Commercial Register No.: HRB 2270, District Court of Mainz VAT-ID: DE149063659 Privacy Statement: ds-vfv.vfmz.de Managing director: Dr. Olaf Theisen Publishing director: Dr. Michael Werner, Email: m.werner@vfmz.de Correspondent India: Sushen Haresh Doshi M.Sc. Advertising sales director: Beatrice Thomas-Meyer Email: b.thomas-meyer@vfmz.de Advertising sales manager: Oliver Jennen, Email: o.jennen@vfmz.de Andreas Zepig, Email: a.zepig@vfmz.de Sales representatives Austria Heinz-Joachim Greiner Email: verlagsbuero-greiner@vfmz.de France Marc Jouanny Email: marc-jouanny@wanadoo.fr Great Britain, Ireland Roberto Tondina Email: roberto@ts-communications.co.uk Italy, Switzerland Hermann Jordi, Email: info@jordipublipress.de Sweden, Finland, Norway Malte Mezger Email: verlagsbuero-mezger@vfmz.de Taiwan Amy Liu Email: amy@hf-taiwan.tw USA, Canada, Mexico Patrick Venezia Jr Email: verlagsbuero-venezia@vfmz.de Advertising disposition: Annemarie Benthin, Email: a.benthin@vfmz.de Helge Rohmund, Email: h.rohmund@vfmz.de Nevenka Islamovic, Email: n.islamovic@vfmz.de In cooperation with: Hannover Fairs International GmbH Messegelände, 30521 Hannover, Germany Internet: www.world-of-industries.com WORLDOFINDUSTRIES 1/2019 3